Rice Pantry

Rice Pantry is a part of Marrickville Metro's amazing new glow-up. On the new Smidmore Street dining precinct, the all-day diner is a follow-up to St Peters' super popular Rice Pantry outpost, only this time, former Masterchef contestant Bryan Zhu has joined the kitchen as head chef, whipping up even more friendly Aussie-inspired Vietnamese treats.

As the name suggests, rice is the hero of the menu, and alongside a daily selection of rice paper rolls, bao, signature bowls, and pho, are things like okonomiyaki loaded tots, made with nori salt, furikake, Japanese BBQ sauce, kewpie mayo, shichimi togarashi, bonito, and lime, as well as spring onion roti, and sriracha loaded fries.

To drink, try signature cocktails like the "Lychee Umeshu", made with Rice Pantry's own Japanese-style umeshu plum liqueur, or the "No Scrubs" concoction, which is a mix of Bacardi Carta Blanca, cucumber, lime and lemongrass, and Calamansi shrub. 

For dessert, Zhu is serving his famous yuzu ice cream, made with layers of lime meringue, citrus, and saffron pineapple combined with sago and mint. There's also a Vietnamese coffee lamington that needs to be on your sweet treat hit list. 

Image credit: Leigh Griffiths